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On November 3, 2017 / Uncategorized / Comments Off on Flashback to the Future

If you look closely around camp—in closets, behind locked doors—you can still see the evidence of a summer well spent. A summer of video game skits, animal scavenger hunts, volleyball tournaments, crafts for all ages, and a never-ending stream of laundry. In the midst of the summer aftermath however, NEXT summer begins to take shape. At this point in the planning process, things are hazy and somewhat unformed. Some aspects of next summer stand out with remarkable clarity, while others seem to be sitting right out of reach. The summer skit, with time travel and a Delorean-inspired RV is crystal clear; whereas, the themed crafts and games have yet to reveal themselves.

One of the best parts of this phase in summer planning is the time I get to spend in the Word. I get to dive into the Scriptures, asking God to show me what teachings he has planned for the next summer. For summer 2018, I am so excited to get to explore the names of Jesus. We are going to dive into both the Old and New Testaments, studying the prophecies that foretold the character of Jesus, as well as the Son of God himself. As I have been studying, God has revealed more names of Jesus than I know what to do with. Immanuel (God with us). Lamb of God. Light of the World. Bright Morning Star. Son of David. Friend. Jesus. His names are more than we can study in a week. They are more than we could study in a year, but I pray that God will faithfully reveal what He has for our campers this coming summer, just as He always does.

Please join us in anticipation of a new summer—a summer of new friendships and old, a summer of laughter and fun, a summer of new experiences and memories, and most of all, a summer spent communing with and learning about the God who loves us completely. We are so excited to FLASHBACK to know Jesus in new ways and flash forward to the FUTURE to understand how our identity is founded in His identity.

On October 13, 2017 / Uncategorized / Comments Off on Camp and Our Community

We love being a local camp. There are so many ways that we can engage with our community, and we look forward to growing that relationship. It is wonderful to go out in town and run into our campers and their families. We love the fact that we are able to watch kids grow into passionate followers of God and leaders over the years at camp. Our summer camps are powered by campers turned high school staff turned summer staffers. As we look to grow our connections with those in our community, there are a few events that we are adding to our calendar. Our first was Family Camp Day, an event that provided families to experience camp together.

Family Camp Day started at ten and was open for people to come and go as they pleased. There was a warm fire and a greeter at the pavilion to start everyone’s visit off right. On this mild autumn day people could go boating in the swamp where both turtle catching and frog spotting could take place. We were thrilled to figure out a way to bring archery to one of our community events for the first time. Over the summer archery is always a fantastic activity with amazing photos. It was great to allow parents to be able to partake in the event and give campers the opportunity to try their hand at it again. We were also able to open the climbing wall and zipline during different parts of the day. It was a joy having people overcome their fears and step off the zipline tower to glide through the trees with smiles plastered on their faces. Our kitchen was busy feeding our visitors with inexpensive but deliciously filling lunches. Lawn games were scattered around camp, and we had some fun with tournaments and prizes during the day. At three everyone started filtering out, and we wrapped up the day praising God for the success that we had with this event.

It was amazing to see how well this event went—104 attendees! We hope and pray this event is just a small taste of what our community relationship can be in the future. It is a joy to share camp with others, and see people make family memories. We are looking forward to making this day an annual event. If you missed Family Camp Day keep an eye on our social media accounts and here on our website where we will announce others as they get closer.

Our next community even will be the Women’s Christmas Tea on December 9th! Registration is open now. Come join us for a time of fellowship and celebration of the Wonder of God. For more details, go here.

I am so excited to introduce myself as LWBC’s newest member of year-round staff. My name is Nathan Lawlor, and I am the mighty intern. My first summer at Lake Waubesa Bible Camp was way back in 2010, when I was in middle school. That week changed my life forever. I received a burning passion and love for LWBC and for what the Lord was and is doing here. After that first year I couldn’t help but come back again, and again, and again. I would say that I became quite obsessed with this wonderful camp. I went through a few years of being a camper, a few years of being a high school staffer, and in the summers of 2015 and 2017, I was a part of summer staff as a counselor.

Now I’m in a much different stage of my life, trying to figure out my future and all (which is very scary to me). Just this past summer I had no idea where I was going to be living or what I was going to be doing. Wow did the Lord come through for me. It was the last week of summer, and I had no plans figured out for the next year of my life, when I got offered an internship to work at LWBC year-round. I could not contain my excitement, YES YES YES!!!! This was definitely God’s plan for me.

So here I am now working as everyone’s favorite intern at the best place in the world. I get to interact with and work with the coolest people on the planet, and I also get to do things for the kingdom of God every single day. Life couldn’t be better. I am so thankful and blessed for the opportunities I’ve been given, and I thank everyone who has helped me on the way. I’m so excited to grow as a young man of God throughout this internship, and I can’t wait to see what doors this opens for me in the future.

My how time flies. It seems that only yesterday we were planning for our camp season and praying for the campers and summer staff that would be here this year. God is good. He blessed us with a staff that were willing to do anything we asked of them. We were able to work with a number of campers who would not have been able to attend without our scholarship program. The opportunity to try new skills and grow them was abundant for both staff and campers. It was incredible to look at the work before us, know that we were not capable of completing it all, and then see God provide for everything. We were provided with strength, patience, energy, compassion, and so much more.

Our morning chapel focused on the story of Gideon this summer. We felt like we were living the story of Gideon and his three hundred men when we realized how small our staff would be this year. The same principle seen in that story was true of our summer: God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things. Our size and all that was accomplished only points to how incredible our God is.

After taking a short break, all of us on the year-round staff team are already starting to serve retreat groups. It is always a blessing to be able to facilitate so many different groups. We love to see people take the opportunity to relax here, learn new things, and have new experiences. Camp provides an atmosphere that helps people to break their everyday routines and think deeply about life or just step away. We are enjoying this time to serve other groups and are looking forward to the programs that we will be running this fall and winter. Acknowledging the joys of the summer and the excitement for our future endeavors, we ask that you to join us in praising God and requesting His blessing on the things set before us.

Prayer Requests

Wisdom in Long Range Goals and Planning

Staff Support and Fundraising

Ministry Retreat Days

SALT (high school) and Forge (college) Programs

Praises

Campers run to-and-fro, games are played, the canteen opens, and the sugar rush seems to never end. God is present in this place during the laughter and shouts of play and throughout energetic chapel times. It is incredible to see the way that God has been working this summer. I often wonder at the grace of God to allow me to work at such a place as this. There have been campers and summer staff alike that I’ve been able to see open up and come to understand more of who God is. One of the things that I love the most about camp is how relational it is. There was a week that a cabin called themselves the duckies and would walk around joyfully quacking together. I’ve seen counselors taking the time to sit down and talk individually with campers. The joy on their faces at being so intentionally looked after is beautiful. I am so proud of our staff this year and how well they show the campers and each other the love of God.

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

-Romans 15:5-6

That verse has truly been in action this summer. Amidst the long hours of camp, I have seen God embrace everyone here and lend endurance and encouragement. He has poured so much into everyone that is serving here. It is obvious in the way that they glorify God with their treatment of our campers. There has been an abundance of joy in the Lord this summer. During swim time, the laughter is nonstop. When we play games, the competition is fierce but everyone will stop to help if someone trips. At chapel, the truth of who God is and His love shines in the messages and His word is passionately presented. Camp can be exhausting; but it is absolutely worth sore muscles and lost sleep. As we reach the midway point of our summer I pray that God will continue to amaze us each day and keep the intensity of our schedule from dissuading us from giving our all.

Being intentional with campers

Please, be in prayer for our staff: that God would continue to grant us the endurance and encouragement we need to serve and glorify Him in one mind and one voice. Ask that He would continue to prepare the hearts and minds of everyone who will be spending time here during our camping season. We want nothing more than to see people take steps closer to God during or following their time here. Thank you for your support of this place and our ministry. Your prayers are vital to our mission. Please, be encouraged to know that God is at work here each and every day.

On May 20, 2017 / Uncategorized / Comments Off on Smoking Allowed at Camp

Smoke can mean a lot of things-a warm campfire, a forest fire, a controlled burn, a tragic accident, and a number of other things.

Our new meat smoker!

Coals smolder and glow; wood pops and flickers. You can tell what kind of fire you’re approaching from the smoke. A barbeque in the summer can make everyone’s mouth water as they smell meats cooking. Add some more friendly smoke to the process and you’ll get meals that sing with notes of whatever fuel you’re burning. A fire always need fuel.

Just as smoke differs based on what you’re burning, our lives reflect where we find our provision. One of the names of God is Yahweh Yireh, the Lord will provide. It is often easy to affirm this, then go back and rely on our own power or that which we can physically see or hold. Here at camp we are consistently blown away at the things that God provides for us. From big things, like new full-time staff who are passionate about working here, to small things, like a meat smoker, it all comes from God. We’ve been dreaming about getting a meat smoker since realizing that it could benefit a number of events that we are going to be hosting in the future. It was a dream that was fairly quickly realized. Now it will be possible not only to smell campfires at LWBC but also the full delicious scent of smoking meats. Perhaps this can become a small reminder for us here that not only does God provide for our physical needs but also provide for the most profound spiritual need that any of us have. In all things God is present with us.

Here at camp there are a lot of needs as we prepare for the summer. As a full time staff, we need God to continue to bind us together and prepare us emotionally, physically and spiritually for what is both a fulfilling and exhausting season. The summer staff still needs to be filled out, particularly with female counselors. It would be very beneficial for us to have some high school staff boys join the team. We need God to prepare the hearts of everyone who will be involved to grow closer to Him. There is always a spiritual battle happening at camp, but it becomes more evident over the summer and we need God to provide us with the strength and grace to continue in His work. We also need His protection during this time. There are likely many things that we don’t even know will be needed this summer and we trust that God will provide for us.

We are constantly overwhelmed by the way that God provides for us. It is both amusing and astounding that God provides not only our needs but also things that, while useful, are just things that we want. God is good, all the time. It is no mistake that He is likened to a father who gives good gifts. The way He provides for us is beautiful. As we look at the things that we need and have yet to prepare for summer, it is the best solace to know that we are in His care.

On April 19, 2017 / blog / Comments Off on Q&A with our new camp staff, Jesse and Jo Barriga

Q: What were you doing before you came to camp?

Jesse: Well…before camp we lived in Connecticut and I worked in the public school as a paraprofessional, where I got to work with kids with behavioral issues. I also led worship at our church and ran a photo booth.

Jo: I was a nanny and helped with the children’s ministry at our church.

We live our lives in three time zones—past, present and future. Each day we work to reconcile those three. Our present is made up of statements—the retreat group needs feeding, the emails need answering, the buildings need cleaning—those things without which camp wouldn’t function. These pressing needs are driven by the past. The past brings us questions. How can we serve this church better than the last time they were here? What would make our staff training more beneficial based on last summer’s program? What buildings need to be cleaned based on last weekend’s retreat?

Perhaps my favorite time zone is the future. The future is made up of “what ifs,” of sentences without endings, of questions without answers. It is a place where all things are possible, where all dreams could come true, where camp could change in ways we’ve never imagined. So in the midst of answering yesterday’s questions and fulfilling today’s statements, we get to dream together as a staff and as a camp community.

Some dreams are so close we can taste them and some dreams are decades down the road, if they ever come to fruition. But camp thrives on dreams. It is through yesterday’s dreams that we reach the families we do today. And it is today’s dreams that will pave the way to continued life change tomorrow. We have something better than dreams, though. We have a God that delights in our dreams and enables us to fulfill some dreams we have and some dreams we have never even considered.

Recently, our camp family grew. We have had the pleasure of hiring Jesse and Jo Barriga and their two beautiful children as our marketing and guest services directors. This growth gives us new insight into our past, new hands for our present, and above all new imaginations to dream for the future. Together, we have spent these last two months praying, dreaming, and planning. We want to share some of those dreams with you because camp is more than just the full-time staff. It is more than the summer staff and even more than the campers. It is a whole community of staff, of campers, of churches, of families, of prayer warriors, without whom we could not continue to serve God and this community.

We ask you to join with us as we dream. We want our excitement for the future to overflow to you and your families. We want to hear your ideas for what camp could look like in a year, in ten years, in fifty years. We want to pray together for camp’s future, whatever that may look like—that it would be a future honoring to our Savior and one that allows us to continue to create opportunities for life change through the love of Christ.

On December 14, 2016 / Uncategorized / Comments Off on Making All Things New

Making All Things New

The past few months have been a whirlwind for me. I just moved and started working here at Lake Waubesa, and it’s been a special kind of challenge. It’s my first time living on my own, having apartment, having a year-round job that I’m passionate about, and so much more in this new, exciting, and challenging time in my life. As we approach Christmas and the winter retreat I find myself meditating on the fact that God makes all of us new upon salvation. 2 Corinthians 2:17 tells us ‘Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.’ This comes right on the heels of reminding us that through Christ’s death and resurrection we have been changed. The birth of Christ makes all this possible. If God did not take the first step toward us in our sinful, broken state, then we would not have the chance to become new. With everything that I have been experiencing lately I know that new things can be terrifying but they can also be unimaginably fulfilling and exciting. This Christmas season we can not only stand in awe of who Christ is and the incomprehensible greatness of the gift of His birth, we can also allow this truth to change us and inspire us to follow diligently in our lives and become more like Christ.

The winter retreat is focusing on our renewal in Christ as we live the Christian life. This too would not be possible without the life of Christ. As Christians, we are set apart for the purposes of God. We have a new purpose because of our salvation – a mission to live according to the will of God. After speaking of the freedom we have in salvation and the work of the Spirit in us after salvation Paul states ‘If we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.’ (Galatians 5:25) While we are made new by God we are responsible to actively live according to the Holy Spirit. We have been made new, our strength is not our own, by the work done in us we can seek to live as the instruments of God in this world. I still have a lot to learn working here at camp, and each day God gives me the strength to continue and the joy of following Him in this ministry. I pray that this Christmas season none of us will just celebrate the birth of Christ, but that we would allow the reality of it to change us for the better as we begin the new year.

On November 10, 2016 / Uncategorized / Comments Off on OVERWHELMED? THERE’S AN ANCHOR FOR THAT ………

Personally, I have felt overwhelmed in 2016. The death of my parents just a few months apart early in the year left me depressed and overwhelmed by grief. I know many of you feel overwhelmed too. Maybe it’s a great feeling, overwhelmed by a Cub’s world series victory. Or maybe it’s downright helpless, like watching the 2016 election process. The one thing I know is that I can’t control any of it. Those are the times I need to be reminded that God is in control. It’s easy to feel out of control, tossed about by feelings and circumstances. The great news is that we can hold on to God in the midst of the storms of life and know absolutely where our security lies.

We are so blessed to be able to tell campers and guests in these troubling times that they can rely on Jesus. Lake Waubesa Bible Camp had the opportunity to communicate that good news to over 500 young people this summer and thousands more as we serve retreat guests in the fall, winter and spring from literally all over the world! My personal story confirms that as an organization, LWBC stepped up and reminded ME that God is in control. An amazing group of board members, full time staff, and summer staff helped me get the rest and find the Anchor I needed in a time of personal storms.

I like to think of all of you as “links in the chain” without which LWBC couldn’t be as effective. So many of you pray, volunteer, and help financially to help keep our ministry working well and our staff housed and fed. In the summer LWBC gives out many scholarships to campers who can’t afford the full cost of camp. This past year we’ve upgraded a number of things like a new mower, video projector, lodge floor coverings, and many other items. All these things help us communicate God’s love as we surround every camp and guest with the best we can offer. Many of you might not even know that our full time staff also raise support to be able to work at LWBC. We have ambitious plans for the future too. Our desire is to replace / upgrade all the beds at camp (many of which are 50+ years old). We need new audio visual equipment, kitchen equipment, exciting new activities. We are also planning on adding a new full time staff couple early in 2017. I am asking all of you to pray about possibly helping LWBC with a year-end financial gift or even consider ongoing support for one of our full time staffers who serve so diligently. I can guarantee you that LWBC is one place where you won’t see your gift get gobbled up by administrative costs; every bit will go to do the work of communicating the gospel of Jesus right here in Madison where people need to hear about HIM!

I am praying that God will use YOU to help us raise $50,000 between now and the end of 2016. Please consider how much LWBC means to you and the community and prayerfully give what you can to help us realize this goal. You are able to give by check, credit card (phone) or online at www.lwbc.com. This is a huge ask, and I know I serve a HUGE GOD.